I have previously intimated that Mr. Hitchcock is still devoting himself to forcing his _ulterior_ motive into operation, either as law or department ruling. In evidence of this I shall here quote from his address or addresses before the Hughes Commission. This Commission was created in the closing hours of the last session of Congress--created as a sort of cushion or pad in order that his _unconstitutional_ “rider” might take its cropper without breaking any bones or painfully lacerating the _official_ feelings of Mr. Hitchcock. This Hughes Commission convened in New York City, August 1, 1911. Following is Mr. Hitchcock’s opening address before it, as reported by the New York Times, August 2. The italics are the writers:-- Postmaster General Hitchcock opened for the department. He said his study of the postage rate problem had led him to believe that certain fundamental principles of administration, almost new to the Postoffice Department at present, should be closely adhered to. These included _the operation of the service on a self-supporting basis_, maintained by imposing such charges as would yield an income equal to the expenses. They included, also, he said, such an adjustment of the postage charges _as would make each class of mail matter pay for its own handling, and no more_. He would further have the levying of postage rates made on the basis of _the average cost of handling and carriage for the country as a whole_, and, finally, postal laws should be enacted so definite in character as to be easy of interpretation and susceptible of uniform enforcement. Mr. Hitchcock stated in this connection that when the books for the fiscal year of 1911 are closed _they will show for the first time in many years a surplus of postal funds_, and he hoped that this condition would become permanent. Mr. Hitchcock opposed any new classification of mail matter at this time, saying the present classification could be made to include all matter now admissible, and he doubted the expediency of attempting a revision. He then sought to set forth the large share second-class matter has in the burdens of the department, and the _small percentage it pays of the total cost or even of its own cost_. “During 1910,” he said, “there were carried in the mail 8,310,164,623 pieces of first-class mail, consisting of letters, other sealed matter, and postal cards. This mail averaged in weight 0.35 of an ounce a piece, making 45.1 pieces to the pound. The cost of handling and carriage for this mail was $86,792,511.35, an _average of 47 cents a pound_, while the postage charge was $154,796,668.08, leaving a clear profit of $68,004,156.73.